?? In the Philippines, the MILF abandoned
its request for independence for certain regions of Mindanao and instead
agreed to create a sub-state or an autonomous republic.

?? In Kosovo, the International Court
of Justice handed down a non-binding ruling that the 2008 declaration of
independence did not violate either international law or United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1244.

Hears Update from High Commissioner for Human Rights on Work of her Office

The Human Rights Council this morning opened its fifteenth regular session, hearing an update by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on the activities of her Office, following which it held a general debate, in which speakers addressed, among other things, the importance of protecting human rights defenders and the upcoming review of the Council. The Council also adopted the agenda for the session.

Strengthening of the coordination of
humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including
special economic assistance: strengthening of the coordination of emergency
humanitarian assistance of the United Nations

Summary

The present report has been prepared
pursuant to General Assembly resolution 64/251, in which the Assembly requested
the Secretary-General to continue to improve the international response
to natural disasters and to report thereon to the Assembly at its sixty-fifth
session.

JOHANNESBURG, 8 July 2010 (IRIN) - The
La Niña phenomenon has officially arrived and disaster response teams around
the world might need to brace themselves for heavier monsoons, bigger and
more frequent hurricanes, and angrier cyclones.

"There is global consensus that
we are at the beginning of a La Niña, but we cannot pronounce the intensity
of the event yet - we have to wait for it to evolve," said Rupa Kumar
Kolli, Chief of the World Climate Applications and Services Division at
the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).